Ciliophora, Phyllopharyngea, Discophryidae, Setodiscophrya steinii (Claparède and Lachmann, 1859): range extension and first record from Italy

The genus Setodiscophrya Jankowski, 1981 has been previously recorded only from Germany, France, Russia, Ukraine and Japan. We provide the new record of Setodiscophrya steinii (Claparède and Lachmann, 1859) as an ectosymbiont of Ochthebius sp., in the province of Basilicata, Italy which represents the first record of the genus Setodiscophrya for Italy and the first worldwide record of S. steinii being associated to the coleopteran family Hydraenidae (Ochthebius sp.). The range distribution of S. steinii is expanded 900 km southwards

Mulinum spinosum root extract, rich in antioxidant compounds, mitigates harmful effects in mice with diet-induced metabolic syndrome

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a health issue with a high incidence in adult population. Using herbal medicines for the management of serious complications of MetS, such as dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia, is highly promising. An aqueous extract from Mulinum spinosum (M. spinosum), traditionally used as hyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory, could have beneficial effects on the treatment of MetS. Purpose: The present study was aimed to characterize the composition of M. spinosum roots decoction, and to evaluate antidiabetic, antilipemic and antioxidant effects in an animal model of MetS. Study design and methods: M. spinosum roots extract was characterized using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) method. Total Phenolic Content (TPC) was spectrophotometrically measured and the antioxidant capacity was determined by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. To generate the MetS model, adult male C57BL/6 mice were fed with a 20% w/v fructose (Fru) in drinking water combined with 30% w/w high fat diet (HFD) over a period of 12 weeks. M. spinosum aqueous extracts (3 or 6 g/kg/day) were administered in drinking water together with Fru-HFD. At the end of the exposure period, mice were weighed and glucose tolerance test was determined. After sacrifice, adipose tissues were isolated and blood samples were collected to evaluate lipid profile, lipid peroxidation level (LPO) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Results: The characterization of M. spinosum revealed the presence of caffeic acid, trans-resveratrol, kaempferol-3-glucoside, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-gallocatechin gallate, (-)-epigallocatechin and (+)-catechin. A high antioxidant capacity of the extract was revealed by ORAC test. Mice fed a Fru-HF diet and treated with M. spinosum, reduced diet-induced weight gain and significantly decreased mesenteric fat compared with Fru-HFD group (p<0.01). Post prandial glycaemia significantly diminished when mice were treated with M. spinosum, and also total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) were reduced. Regarding the antioxidant effect of the consumption of M. spinosum, we found a decrease in plasmatic LPO, and a significant increase in plasmatic FRAP. Conclusion: To our knowledge, the phenolic composition and the antioxidant capacity of M. spinosum roots decoction is reported for the first time. In addition, we provide evidence that M. spinosum root extract is a promising source of antioxidants able to alleviates Fru-HFD-induced metabolic alterations and slow the progression of MetS.EEA La ConsultaFil: Berruezo, Silvia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Clínicas; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Susana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Fontana, Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Fontana, Ariel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Paola, Matilde de. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Paola, Matilde de. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Bioquímica y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, María Belén. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria La Consulta; ArgentinaFil: Scapini, Celina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Clínicas; ArgentinaFil: Cremer, Cecilia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Clínicas; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Claudia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Claudia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Bioquímica y Biotecnología; Argentin

A 700-year multiproxy reconstruction on the Argentinian Pampas inferred from the sediments of Laguna Blanca Grande

The Pampean region is a crucial area to obtain sensitive paleoclimatic lacustrine archives due to the presence of shallow environments in a territory non impacted by humans until the last centuries. In this study, we provide a paleoecological reconstruction for the last ca. 700 years based on a multiproxy lacustrine record from Laguna Blanca Grande, in Olavarría (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Our inferences, which were based on sedimentary properties, diatom, cladoceran and ostracod assemblages, offered interesting information about hydroclimatic variability and nutrient increase. Changes in relative abundances on diatoms, specifically on Aulacoseira granulata and Aulacoseira granulata var. angustissima and fragilariods, were used to infer shifts in nutrient conditions. The remainder proxies together indicated small lake level changes. Reconstructed hydroclimatic conditions in Laguna Blanca Grande are consistent with previous paleoecological inferences indicating a humid phase around ca. AD 1450 and progressive drier conditions ca. AD 1530–1900. A flood gate construction and an increase of nutrients in the lake revealed a higher human pressure due to population increase and land-use changes during the last century. Further studies on taxonomy and autecology of microcrustaceans are needed to effectively unlock the information contained in biological proxies from Sudamerican records.Fil: López Blanco, Charo. Escuela Politécnica Nacional; Ecuador. Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen; AlemaniaFil: Rodríguez Abaunza, Gloria Alejandra. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; Colombia. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; PanamáFil: Seitz, Carina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Laura. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Cuña Rodriguez, Carolina Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Fontana, Sonia Leonor. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. University of Applied Sciences; Alemani

Comparative analysis for the assessment of restoration treatments on stone material from the roman theater of Merida (Spain)

The overall goal of the project is the study of effects of conservation treatments applied on stone material from archaeological sites, i n terms of superficial changes, effectiveness and durability. In this sense, one of the first premises is characterize the surface of the treated and untreated material in order to determine changes in physical and chemical properties

Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Liladownsia fraile, a new genus and species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) and an updated molecular phylogeny of Melanoplinae

Liladownsia fraile gen. nov. sp. nov. Fontana, Mariño-Pérez, Woller & Song (Lila Downs’ friar grasshopper) of the tribe Dactylotini (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Melanoplinae) is described from the pine-oak forest of the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range in Oaxaca, Mexico. Taxonomic placement of this new genus is justified based on morphological characters as well as a molecular phylogeny. Information about the probable host plant, phenology, and known localities is also presented. We also present an updated molecular phylogeny of Melanoplinae, which includes representatives of five of the seven recognized tribes. The monophyly of the subfamily and the included tribes is tested and we find Dactylotini to be paraphyletic because of the placement of Hesperotettix Scudder, 1876. We also recover strong close relationships between the new genus and Perixerus Gerstaecker, 1873 and Dactylotum Charpentier, 184

Quantification of aluminium in soil of the Solimões formation, Acre State, Brazil.

The variety of soils in the State of Acre is wide and their chemical profiles are still not fully understood. The nature of the material of origin of these soils is indicated by the high aluminium (Al) content, commonly associated with high calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) contents. The study objective was to use different methods to quantify Al in soils from toposequences formed from material of a sedimentary nature originating from the Solimões Formation, in Acre, Brazil. Trenches were opened at three distinct points in the landscape: shoulder, backslope and footslope positions. Soil samples were collected for physical, chemical, mineralogical analyses. The Al content was quantified using different methods. High Al contents were found in most of these horizons, associated with high Ca and Mg levels, representing the predominant cations in the sum of exchangeable bases. The mineralogy indicates that the soils are still in a low weathering phase, with the presence of significant quantities of 2:1 minerals. Similar Al contents were determined by the methods of NaOH titration, xylenol orange spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. However, no consistent data were obtained by the pyrocatechol violet method. Extraction with KCl overestimated the exchangeable Al content due to its ability to extract the non-exchangeable Al present in the smectite interlayers. It was observed that high Al contents are related to the instability of the hydroxyl-Al smectite interlayers

The galaxy stellar mass-star formation rate relation: Evidence for an evolving stellar initial mass function?

The evolution of the galaxy stellar mass--star formation rate relationship (M*-SFR) provides key constraints on the stellar mass assembly histories of galaxies. For star-forming galaxies, M*-SFR is observed to be fairly tight with a slope close to unity from z~0-2. Simulations of galaxy formation reproduce these trends owing to the generic dominance of smooth and steady cold accretion in these systems. In contrast, the amplitude of the M*-SFR relation evolves markedly differently than in models. Stated in terms of a star formation activity parameter alpha=(M*/SFR)/(t_H-1 Gyr), models predict a constant alpha~1 out to redshifts z=4+, while the observed M*-SFR relation indicates that alpha increases by X3 from z~2 until today. The low alpha at high-z not only conflicts with models, but is also difficult to reconcile with other observations of high-z galaxies. Systematic biases could significantly affect measurements of M* and SFR, but detailed considerations suggest that none are obvious candidates to reconcile the discrepancy. A speculative solution is considered in which the stellar initial mass function (IMF) evolves towards more high-mass star formation at earlier epochs. Following Larson, a model is investigated in which the characteristic mass Mhat where the IMF turns over increases with redshift. The observed and predicted M*-SFR evolution may be brought into agreement if Mhat=0.5(1+z)^2 Mo out to z~2. Such evolution broadly matches recent observations of cosmic stellar mass growth, and the resulting z=0 cumulative IMF is similar to the paunchy IMF favored by Fardal et al to reconcile the observed cosmic star formation history with present-day fossil light measures. [abridged]Comment: 14 pages, MNRAS, accepted version. Significant expansion of discussion; includes comparisons to new observation

The Galaxy Mass Function up to z=4 in the GOODS-MUSIC sample: into the epoch of formation of massive galaxies

The goal of this work is to measure the evolution of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function and of the resulting Stellar Mass Density up to redshift ~4, in order to study the assembly of massive galaxies in the high redshift Universe. We have used the GOODS-MUSIC catalog, containing ~3000 Ks-selected galaxies with multi-wavelength coverage extending from the U band to the Spitzer 8 micron band, of which 27% have spectroscopic redshifts and the remaining fraction have accurate photometric redshifts. On this sample we have applied a standard fitting procedure to measure stellar masses. We compute the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function and the resulting Stellar Mass Density up to redshift ~4, taking into proper account the biases and incompleteness effects. Within the well known trend of global decline of the Stellar Mass Density with redshift, we show that the decline of the more massive galaxies may be described by an exponential timescale of ~6 Gyrs up to z~1.5, and proceeds much faster thereafter, with an exponential timescale of ~0.6 Gyrs. We also show that there is some evidence for a differential evolution of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function, with low mass galaxies evolving faster than more massive ones up to z~1-1.5 and that the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function remains remarkably flat (i.e. with a slope close to the local one) up to z~1-1.3. The observed behaviour of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function is consistent with a scenario where about 50% of present-day massive galaxies formed at a vigorous rate in the epoch between redshift 4 and 1.5, followed by a milder evolution until the present-day epoch.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A. Uses aa.cls, 15 pages, 11 figures. The observed mass functions are available in electronic form at http://lbc.oa-roma.inaf.it/goods/massfunctio

High Irisin levels in nondiabetic HIV-infected males are associated with insulin resistance, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and subclinical atherosclerosis

Objective: HIV infection is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Irisin is a miokyne secreted by skeletal muscle, which may influence insulin homeostasis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atherosclerosis. Our objective was to evaluate the relationships between serum irisin, insulin homeostasis, NAFLD and subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV-infected males. Design: Cross-sectional study in a cohort of HIV-infected patients. Patients: Inclusion criteria: men older than 18 years; antiretroviral therapy (ART) -naïve or on effective ART (<50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL) without changes in the previous 6 months; no diabetes or hepatitis C. Measurements: Irisin was measured by enzymatic immunoassay (Phoenix Pharmaceuticals), insulin sensitivity by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), as well as the 2-hour continuous infusion of glucose with model assessment (CIGMA-HOMA). Hepatic steatosis was measured by 1-H magnetic resonance spectroscopy, subclinical atherosclerosis by evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT), measured by Ultrasonography. Results: Eight nine men (age 42.0 ± 8.3 years, duration of HIV infection 7.9 ± 5.6 years, CD4 count 547 ± 279 cells/mL) were included. Circulating irisin was positively related to HOMA-IR and CIGMA-HOMA, hepatic triglyceride content, and to VAT/SAT ratio. Higher irisin concentrations were associated with higher C-IMT, although this association did not persist in multivariate analysis. Lipodystrophy and a higher baseline PAI-1 concentration were independently associated with C-IMT. Conclusions: In male HIV patients without diabetes, higher irisin concentrations are positively associated with insulin resistance, NAFLD and subclinical atherosclerosis. However, waist-hip- ratio is the main determinant of insulin resistance, and PAI-1 and lipodystrophy were the strongest determinants of IMT in this population